Federal emergency officials have turned down the state’s request for financial aid for its shellfish industry that is battling a red tide outbreak, saying the toxic algae bloom doesn’t qualify as a major disaster. The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Gov. Mitt Romney that the bloom has mostly had an economic impact, and so doesn’t warrant disaster aid from the agency. A disaster declaration from FEMA would have been a boon for idled shellfisherman, who could have applied for unemployment insurance while out of work.
California: Hit-and-run killer
A nanny with four previous drunken driving convictions was sentenced in Martinez to 30 years to life in prison Friday for the hit-and-run deaths of two children struck on a sidewalk. Jimena Barreto, 46, received the maximum possible term for her conviction last month on two counts of second-degree murder. She got down on her knees and sobbed as she expressed remorse for the deaths of Troy Pack, 10, and his sister, Alana, 7. The district attorney sought murder, rather than manslaughter, charges at the urging of the children’s grief-stricken parents.
Georgia: 78-year-old held in slaying
Furious that their romance was ending, a 78-year-old great-grandmother shot her 85-year-old ex-beau to death in an Atlanta-area senior citizens home, police said. “I did it, and I’d do it again!” Lena Driskell yelled to officers who arrived at the home June 10, according to testimony. Police said she was wearing a bathrobe and slippers, waving an antique handgun with her finger still on the trigger. She is accused of plotting the shooting of Herman Winslow because she was angry that their yearlong romance was ending and he had found another companion.
D.C.: Justice uncovers statues
Workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 31/2 years. Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the light of Justice’s Great Hall. The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in news pictures. In the past, snagging a photo of the attorney general in front of the statues has been somewhat of a sport for photographers.
Arkansas: Navy recruits granny
At age 81, Fola Coats of Magnolia might seem a little old to join the Navy. But the great-grandmother recently received a letter inviting her to enlist in the Seabees of the Naval Reserve. “I laughed when I got (the letter),” she said. “I told (my family), I can’t wait to get my uniform.” Coats’ husband served in World War II and two of her sons were in Vietnam. “I guess they figured we were a great military family,” she said. The letter suggests she should volunteer for the Seabees, supporting Navy construction needs.
From Herald news services
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